December 13th, 2017 09:54 a.m.

Archive By Section - Camden

The Camden Fire Department (CFD) recognized two of its top firefighters during Tuesday nights' Camden City Council meeting. CFD Chief John Bowers announced Lt. Chris Tidwell as the CFD's 2014 Career Firefighter of the Year and retired Capt. Gene Parnell as its Volunteer Firefighter of the Year.

Representatives from the S.C. Equine Promotion Foundation (SCEPF) will speak before Camden City Council during its meeting Tuesday night. The meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.; there will be no afternoon work session. SCEPF officials are expected to update council on a $250,000 grant application to the S.C. Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism.

United States Sen. Tim Scott paid a special visit to the Jackson Teen Center (JTC) in Camden on Dec. 30, to see firsthand the difference the facility is making for the youth of the community. Operated in conjunction with Boys & Girls Clubs of the Midlands, JTC offers after-school activity and tutoring programs for youths who might otherwise be out on their own and more prone to mischief and trouble.

Camden City Council voted unanimously Dec. 9 to approve four more Leaders Legacy recognition benches. The benches will honor a late dentist and three former city councilmen. Councilman Jeffrey Graham is acting as the city sponsor for the four benches.

Smiley, Quiet Storm, Showtyme, Precyse, Tailor Made, Terminator, Lieutenant, Havoc, Live Wire, Dimplez, Eyes and Eclipse. If they sound like female gang names, you'd be right and wrong. They're the "better gang," the Kershaw County Diamonds and they are step dancing champions.

Plans for Rhame Arena's renovation are firming up, and will include a shift of the main entrance from the north side to the east side of the more than 50-year-old building. Camden Economic Development Director Wade Luther presented the changes to Camden City Council during a lengthy work session Tuesday afternoon.

529 East DeKalb St. has stood vacant for many years, since Hazelwood Cleaners moved out approximately a decade ago. Four years ago, the city of Camden's building official and fire inspector determined the structure -- which was also once Camden's first movie theater -- "an immediate hazard" due to the then-potential collapse of its 35-foot-plus walls because of a failing roof.

Habitat for Humanity ReStore Manager Deborah Davis and former Camden Mayor Jeffrey Graham took their oaths of office as members of Camden City Council during a brief ceremony at Camden City Hall on Monday evening. Current Mayor Tony Scully delivered the oath of office to Davis, while Municipal Judge Rick Todd administered the oath to Graham.

The city of Camden could become part of a new program to fund the removal and redevelopment of blighted residential properties. Kyle Kelly, director of economic and community sustainability for the Santee-Lynches Regional Council of Governments (COG), spoke to Camden City Council about the Neighborhood Initiative Program (NIP) during its Nov. 25 meeting.

Many well-wishers attended Camden City Council's meeting Tuesday night -- the last for outgoing councilmen Walter Long and Willard Polk. Both men chose not to run for reelection earlier this year. Council members-elect Deborah Davis and Jeffrey Graham are scheduled to be sworn in Tuesday; they will attend their first meeting Dec. 9.

Camden City Council will recognize outgoing councilmen Walter Long and Willard Polk as they attend their last meeting Tuesday night. Long and Polk chose not to run for reelection. Voters elected former mayor Jeffrey Graham and Deborah Davis as Long and Polk's replacements. They are tentatively scheduled to be sworn in at 5 p.m. Dec. 1, and will take their seats on council at its Dec. 9 meeting.

About 50 people spent some time Nov. 13 to help the city of Camden celebrate the official grand opening of its new wastewater treatment plant. The plant, which cost around $35 million to build, actually began operating in late-February. The city chose to wait until late in the year to have a ribbon cutting ceremony and offer tours of the plant while it worked to drain the old plant's remaining lagoon. The new plant replaces one built in 1979.